Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, reacts after defeating Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, in a quarterfinals match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Even though the former ATP event in Los Angeles was sold to a Colombian company recently after 86 years here, Justin Gimelstob was determined to get an event back at UCLA.

Gimelstob, the former UCLA and ATP Tour player, returns to UCLA on Monday as promoter of the first L.A. Tennis Challenge exhibition at Pauley Pavilion. Gimelstob enlisted Mardy Fish to help in the event headlined by Novak Djokovic, the world's top-ranked player.

"Mardy and I took it very hard when tennis was leaving California," said Gimelstob, who lives in Santa Monica. "With the loss of the ATP event, we felt we needed to be proactive about tennis being in California. Los Angeles is the second-biggest market. It's alive and well and needs to be reformated and recalculated. We called a lot of friends, and called in a lot of favors, and I used my relationship with UCLA.

"We wanted to show that even if (tennis) has tough times, if you get the right talent and format and make it entertaining and engage celebrities, people will be there."

This is no ordinary tennis match. Gimelstob landed Djokovic for the event, and Gimelstob said none of the players, retired or otherwise, are getting paid to play.

"Mardy and I are very close with him," Gimelstob said of Djokovic. "He's incredibly philanthropic and never played in L.A. I asked him as a favor. He's loyal and he understands how he can affect change and giving back."

Djokovic will team with Pete Sampras to play Camarilo twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the most decorated doubles team of all time.

Fish will play Djokovic prior to the doubles match. Tommy Haas and American James Blake will play the opening singles match.

Gimelstob ensured the event would be easy for players to attend since the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is this week. And there was also a Lakers game on Sunday.

Gimelstob said he was scheduled to take Djokovic to the Lakers game so that he could meet Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.